Clarity
by amycc7
Summary: Emma only has one memory when she wakes up in a hospital bed, one that she can't be sure is even real. One year later, faces that have haunted her dreams finally find her, claiming to know her true identity and sprouting off desires to transport her to another world. But who can she trust in a world that seems impossible? AU
1. Chapter 1

So this was just some random story idea I got! All I can say now is that it basically takes place sometime in what would be season three. An AU, but an AU with the current OUAT storyline already happened, if that makes sense. Let me know what you think and if you want the next chapter :)

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_Ringing._

_Why wouldn't the ringing stop?_

_Pain was meticulously clawing against the inside of her skull and if her eyes hadn't been closed, she was sure the world would have been a blur of spins and turns._

_A faint pressure began to press up against the side of her head, a sharp gust of cold air cooling and tingling the wetness that seemed to run down her cheek and neck._

_But why?_

_Her eyelids were heavy as she willed them open, the sight before her not helping her decipher the situation in the slightest. Everything was still so shaky. A woman with short, dark hair was above her. The cause of the pressure on her head she had been feeling was the woman's hand and her features were too distorted for her to attempt to try to recognize her. She looked frantic, her mouth moving in words she knew she was supposed to understand and hear, but couldn't, her heartbeat was pounding to furiously in her ears and the high-pitched ringing, though growing fainter, was too much of a distraction. Past the woman, she could see another figure. Back to her, it was blurry and black with a touch of silver that moved too quickly for her eyes to follow._

_She tried to close her eyes again, hoping that would give her some answers and subside the confusion and panic that was starting fester in her chest, but a forced shake of her shoulders popped them back open. She could hear the woman's voice now, a desperate command of "you have to keep them open."_

_The other figure she had noticed was suddenly in front of her, almost pushing the woman who was cradling her head out of the way. This one was a man, looking just as furious as he did pained. "What the bloody hell were you thinking?" he growled. She didn't know how to respond, everything about these two people and wherever she was at foreign to her, and just continued to stare blankly up at them. She wanted to yell and demand to know what was going on, but the weakness and heaviness of her body was already to overwhelming as she focused on just trying to stay awake and make the world around her come to a standstill. The man looked concerned at her lack of response, but was soon distracted into a heated argument with the other woman. Arguing with words, places, people, and things she didn't understand._

_The man tried to yank her from the woman's hold. "Wherever she goes, I go."_

_"David needs your help!" the woman yelled back, forcibly tightening her grip around her shoulders, "I'm taking her."_

_Loud clashes and clangs and other voices reached her ears as the two snapped their head sideways to view something she couldn't see. The woman was the first to turn away, bellowing another determined order at the man, "Go, I have her!"_

_Reaching down to cup her face, the man was looking at her in such a way that was beginning to freak her out, but he soon jumped to his feet and took off in the direction of where most of the noise was coming from. She felt herself being hoisted upwards. "Can you stand?" the woman asked with desperation._

_She nodded, seeing no other option than trying to comply, and used what strength she could muster to wobbly get to her feet. A sharp pain shot up and radiated from her side. She winced and fell against the woman with her, shoving most of her weight on her as they began to walk. She reflexively moved a hand to the source and looked down to see her side bleeding profusely. What had happened? Why was she the only one who seemed confused at the moment? She risked a glance around and saw that they were on a bridge of some sort, a lake below them and a thick forest of trees ahead of them. She didn't recognize any of it. Everything looked so… medieval._

_Within the next moment, though, she was being grabbed from behind as the woman beside her was knocked unconscious and shoved to the ground. Unable to still support her own weight, she slumped against her captor, their arm wrapping around her neck threateningly. Whoever it was, turned them around so that they were facing in the direction of a… castle? There was a large number of people in front of it, all with weapons out, still somewhat distant from her. She was being scooted closer to the edge of the bridge, so close that she could look down and see a colorful swirling whirlpool. Whatever it was, she had a feeling she didn't want to go in it. The man that had been arguing above her broke from the crowd, his attention now on them. He had a sword menacingly swinging from his hand and a look of pure rage on his face as he roared, "Don't you dare!"_

_She barely registered his look of panic before she was free falling, her captor's grip tightening before they were sucked into the whirlpool below them_

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Her eyes popped open as she forcibly gasped for breath, trying to sit up. Her hands shot up and flailed on reflex, remembering expecting to hit water. Had that been a dream? Had she been in an accident? Absolutely nothing was making sense. She was being wheeled through what looked like a hospital corridor, four or five people around her. Hands shoved her arms down and poked at her side, too many voices commanding her to do too many things. Her body was shaking and her breathing was erratic. "Where I am?" she managed to choke out.

"Massachusetts General Hospital," one of the guys dressed in blue scrubs answered, a clipboard in his hands as he wrote furiously, "You've lost a lot of blood and have some subarachnoid hemorrhaging. You're being taken in for emergency surgery." He wrote something else down before looking down her expectantly, hastily asking, "What's your name?"

She remembered someone yelling something as she flew off a bridge and toward a whirlpool. Whether it had been a dream or not, it was the only name she could think of and for some reason, it just felt right. Before the consuming dizziness of anesthesia overtook her, she managed to hoarsely whisper "Emma."


	2. Chapter 2

Someone was following her. She knew it.

The creeping sense of someone's eyes on you had been slowly tingling on the back of her neck as she walked through the crowded streets of downtown Boston. On her way back from the local deli where she had grabbed dinner, she had used pauses at stoplights and reflecting glass panels to glance behind her and spot the perpetrator. But every single time, there was never a face that stayed the same, no one that seemed to be paying the slightest attention to her. Whoever they were, they were good. Or maybe she was just going crazy. Waking up in a hospital with no memories and no one with any of knowledge of who you are can do that to a person.

Emma tried shaking off the feeling. That was it. She was just being paranoid. No one knew her. No one would be looking for her. No one had any reason to follow her. The first few weeks after waking up, she had nursed the flaming hope inside her chest that someone was coming for her, that she wasn't completely alone. Nights had been filled with vague faces that she knew she _knew_. Faces that filled her gut with longing and despair at the same time. But then she would wake up. And she would still be alone. Soon, those faces started to fade, dimming more each night, along with whatever hope she had of being found. There was no one who wanted to find her. One year wouldn't change that fact either.

But she still couldn't bring herself to leave Boston, just in case.

Starting over hadn't been easy, but somehow she had managed. She was good at finding things. And stealing. While the latter was what she had done at the beginning, she had eventually found a job assisting at a P.I. firm, making enough money to eventually rent her own apartment. A tiny flat overlooking the harbor.

Coming to the front door of her building, she caught her reflection in the doorway and scowled. Her brown hair flowed in a tangled disarray from the wind. One of the first things she had done when she had been released from the hospital was dye it. Every time she had looked in the mirror, her reflection had taunted her. It was the reflection of someone she had no memories of. It was an appearance she had no memory of choosing. And she wanted to choose _something_. To establish some sense of identity. And a cheap box of dye from the store was the only option for someone with no money.

The door to her flat was barely ajar when she finally made it up to the 4th floor. Her entire body tensed in defense and she quietly reached into her purse to pull out her can of pepper spray. She had a tiny handgun stashed in a dresser drawer, but if someone had broken in and was still in there, there was a good chance that it had already been found.

She pushed the door open with her heal, holding out the can in front of her as a weapon. Emma blinked, lowering the can in a surprised huff, when she saw no one and nothing looked too out of sorts. She only noticed a few things that looked slightly out of place, things anyone except her would notice. But someone still had been in there.

"I swear I'm not the one who broke in. The door was already open when I got here."

Jumping, Emma gasped and spun around, immediately holding up the pepper spray as threatening as she could. It was a man who looked a couple of years older than her, with messy brown hair and eyes that matched. He eyed her defensive stance and held up his hands in surrender. "Whoa," he let out a short chuckle, looking like he wasn't sure to be amused or actually threatened, as he took a step back. "Jesus, Emma, is that pepper spray?"

"Who the hell are you?" Emma demanded heatedly through gritted teeth.

He looked taken aback for a moment before his eyes filled with stunned understanding. "It's true," he whispered, "you don't remember anything."

Emma studied him carefully, trying to ignore the way her heart started to pound in anticipation. She didn't want to get her hopes up. Not yet. Did she know him? Maybe there was something about him that seemed familiar. And he knew her name. If Emma really had been her name, that is, and wasn't a name he had gotten from following her or something. "What are you talking about?" she asked evenly, not lowering her hand a centimeter.

"You… you really have no idea who I am – I thought Hook was crazy… and your hair-" he cut off his musing before putting a hand to his chest, "I'm Neal. Neal Cassidy."

Swallowing down the lump in her throat, Emma hoarsely implored, "Why should I believe anything you say?"

"I'm not going to hurt you, okay? I've known you since you were seventeen and we have-" Neal suddenly shook his head, thinking better of whatever he was going to say, before he continued to calmly reason with her, "you can trust me. I'll answer any questions you have. How about over a drink?"

"Why?" Emma asked, her suspicion starting to rise again, but nonetheless, she dropped her arms to her sides, wanting answers too much to take the time to try to figure out if she really could trust him. Because after a year, why now?

Neal looked relieved that she seemed to believe him by lowering her weapon, but his composure still remained cautious and alert as he shrugged. "I figured you would feel better talking in a public place," he glanced around the room, "Plus, this _was_ broken into, which I'm guessing means someone else has figured out where you are too. We should figure out who before you come back."

So there were other people looking for her too? And why did he make it sound like they were not all good? She wasn't sure if anything he said would be the truth, but it was something and she would keep the pepper spray within reach at all times. "Okay," Emma conceded, a knot in her stomach starting to tighten, "Let's go."

They walked about two blocks to a little hole-in-the-wall bar, still early enough that there were open booths and it was relatively quiet. Neal ordered a drink before they sat there enveloped in an awkward silence before he finally asked, "So do you remember anything?" there was a hint of hope and desperation in his voice, "anything at all?"

A flash of a castle and a whirlpool came to the forefront of her mind. But no, it was too crazy. The memory too hazy and dreamlike to be real. "No," Emma answered somberly after a brief hesitation she hoped he didn't notice. Maybe she should have ordered a drink after all.

Neal gave a frustrated sigh and brought his hand to the bridge of his nose, rubbing his eyes tiredly in the process, mumbling, "I shouldn't be the one doing this."

She wanted to snap at him and ask who should be the one doing this, but thought better of it. Trying not to let her annoyance show, Emma wryly stated, "So my name _is_ Emma."

"Yeah, Emma Swan," Neal answered nonchalantly, taking a swig of his beer. Emma Swan. Something about that sounded right.

"And you've known me since I was seventeen? Why am I just now hearing from you?" Emma's voice began to rise, her questions turning into a rant from all the hurt and anger that had been simmering under her skin from the moment she had no idea who she was, "From anyone, apparently? I woke up in a hospital a year ago-"

"It's really, really complicated," Neal interjected with some hesitancy, a guilty and apologetic smile forming on his face.

Emma irritably snapped, "Well un-complicate it."

Running a hand through his hair, Neal threw out his arms in defense, his voice matching her tone, "I don't even know where to start!"

"How about you start with how I'm supposed to know you," Emma suggested bitingly, wondering why he seemed to bring out all this hostility in her.

"Okay. We met when you were seventeen," Neal replied quietly after taking a moment to think about his answer, "You were stealing the car that I had been sleeping in-"

"You've got to be kidding me," Emma muttered under her breath, mostly to herself, putting her head in her hands. Well that explains why thievery was something that had come natural to her.

"If it makes you feel better, I had already stolen the car," Neal said with an amused, self-deprecating chuckle. Clearing his throat, he then added, "And then we- and then we were _together…"_

Emma quickly glanced back up at him, eyes wide at the new knowledge as it put a whole new light on the situation. "For how long?" she asked as she studied him, trying to figure out if they were still supposed to be together or not.

"Almost a year. Some things… happened," Neal told her, his words careful as he looked down at the table. There were definitely some things he was leaving out, but she willed herself to wait to hound him on it until he was finished, "and I didn't see you for a long time after that. Until you showed up in Manhattan with my father…" he paused, eyeing her warily before confessing, "and son."

The pointed look on his face told her it wasn't just _his_ son he was talking about. "I have a kid?" Emma choked out incredulously, eyes darting between the two of them, "_We_ have a kid?!"

There was no way she had a _kid_. A son. She would know. Motherly instinct and all that, right? But maybe she _had_ known. Maybe there was a reason she always found herself crying when she saw little boys with brown hair. "Henry," Neal answered, nodding, "he's 12."

Henry. She repeated the name in her head like a mantra. Something that was so overwhelming and impossible she shouldn't be true, but she knew that if anything were true, this was it. She had been gone an entire year. What had he been doing? Then another thought made her nauseous. Was she that terrible of her mother, her was okay living without her? "This.. this is insane," Emma shakily gasped, trying to let this all settle in. There was still a good chance she could wake up tomorrow morning and all this really be a dream, taunting her with people she would never be with.

Neal leaned forward, determination lacing his voice, "I know it's a lot to take in right now, but you have to believe me."

Emma was about to open her mouth to reply when she was cut off by another voice. "I wouldn't believe him just yet," the man with dark blonde hair sitting in the booth behind Neal, back to them this entire time, twisted around in his seat. A scarf wrapped high around his neck, making his grin and eyes look even crazier, "he's leaving out the best parts of the story."

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Review?


	3. Chapter 3

"Excuse me?" Emma inquired coolly, raising an eyebrow at the man's intrusion.

The man hopped out his booth and started to slide in next to Neal. "Mind if I join you?"

"Yes," Neal stated flatly and pushed the man out sideways, before he got out to stand up as well.

"Jefferson," the man reached around Neal, greeting her nonchalantly, and held out his hand to her, "we've met before." Emma reluctantly shook his hand, wondering how she even knew this guy in the first place. He must have seen the question in her eyes since he gave her another maniacal grin and said, "I tried to help you find your dog Spot."

As she was wondering why she would ever be as uncreative to name a dog Spot, Neal took a step toward Jefferson, asking in a low voice that she could barely hear, "Who sent you, my father or Regina?"

Jefferson dramatically winced, pretending to be conflicted, before confessing, "Your father. One last endeavor for him and I get all the gold I want. Teenage girls," he mused with an audible tsk, looking at both of them contemplatively, "expensive. And I'm a little short on cash since we returned home." Seeing Neal's exasperated face, Jefferson feigned surprise, "I know, right, who would have guessed that picking mushrooms still isn't a lucrative career."

Emma's eyes flicked him over. So that definitely explained everything. Shrooms. This guy had to be on them. Rubbing the back of his neck, Neal tiredly sighed, "Just take me, man."

Her eyes went wide. She didn't like people making decisions for her, and she also wasn't about to let someone take her place in something, especially if she didn't even know what for. "What?" Emma stuttered.

"Why?" Jefferson reiterated, looking at Neal like he was crazy.

"He only wants her because he thinks it'll make me come back," Neal retorted bleakly. He turned back toward Emma, his voice resolute, "Henry needs you."

While the thought of Henry warmed her heart, she was completely lost in this whole conversation now. "Back where?" Emma sternly implored.

"The Enchanted Forest," Jefferson answered with a casual nod of his head. Emma felt her eyebrows shoot up in immediate skepticism. She really hoped he was just talking about Disneyland. Seeing her face, Jefferson stifled a laugh and patted Neal on the shoulder sympathetically, "Getting her to believe again is going to be tough, believe me, I tried the first time."

"Emma, just get out of here," Neal hissed, trying to keep his voice down now that the bartender has started curiously eyeing them from across the room.

Crossing her arms, Emma stood her ground. Where did he expect her to go? She didn't have any damn memories of these people. And most of what they were saying sounded like psycho babble. "Where's Henry?" Emma urged.

"He's with your parents," Neal said, trying to be reassuring. Her parents? Why weren't they there when she was in the hospital? He gestured back at Jefferson, "I'll go back with him and I'll get them to – "

"Her going back is inevitable," Jefferson interjected irritably, giving Neal a pointed look, "I've seen at least two others in the city today looking for her. One of whom, I'm sure, will probably gut us for getting to her first so I would say it's time to get moving," he quipped warningly, moving to grab her.

"No," Neal moved slightly in front of him, cutting him off, "Henry needs to get as far away from magic as possible and now that we know where she is-"

"She _is_ magic," Jefferson countered condescendingly as he pointed a finger at her, "She doesn't even belong here in the first place."

"What if everything that has happened to Henry since that stupid curse broke had happened to your daughter-"

She couldn't take this anymore. All this talk about people gutting people, magic, and curses was making her head spin. "Is this some sort of sick joke?" Emma fumed, breaking them out of their heated argument.

Eyes wide with remembrance that she was there, Neal turned and began "Emma…"

"Both of you are crazy," she concluded, taking slow steps backwards toward the door, staring at both of them outrageously.

Jefferson just shrugged. "'Mad' is probably a little more appropriate, given the circumstances, but – "

"No, wait –" Neal cried in a panic, lunging toward her.

Emma was already sprinting out the door, feeling suffocated by all the knowledge that had just been heaved upon her. With a quick glance back, she saw that they had started to follow her and sped up. As she ran down the sidewalk toward one of the more busier streets in hopes of losing them faster in a crowd, she tried to convince herself that they were insane, that all they had said was impossible, but the one, hazy memory she had, the one she believed had just been a pain inflicted dream, kept her from being fully convinced. That flicker of doubt, though, was what scared her the most. She just needed time to think it through.

Body on auto-pilot, she was just about to sprint across another street when something fisted in the back of her shirt and propelled her backwards. Stumbling a bit in surprise, a puff of air blew across her face as a car whizzed by in front of her, right where she probably would've been if she hadn't been stopped. Well, damn. As she was still trying to comprehend what could've just happened, she was spun around and she barely registered a man's face before he suddenly crashed his lips to hers.

Almost involuntarily, she immediately reacted and sunk into the kiss, like her body was acting on its own accord. But.. no. _No_. Kissing random strangers on the street was _not_ okay, no matter how good of a kisser they may be. The man had her head locked against his with his hand, so she began to shove her hands against his chest in an attempt to get him off.

He quickly pulled back, but still kept her within his hold, her continuing to stare up at him with indignant outrage. Okay, he was good-looking, she would give him that. But still. As he desperately searched her face, before devastation washed over him. "No," he croaked, and for some reason, a festering guilt rose up within her as he looked at her like she'd just confirmed his worst nightmare was true. She stared back up at him, mouth agape unable to form any words. His eyes were the lightest shade of blue she had ever seen and they tugged at a faint familiarity in her chest. A quick movement caught her eye over his shoulder, though, before she could dwell on it, and she saw the dark blonde haired man from the bar finally catching up with her, doing his best to maneuver through the thick flux of people occupying the sidewalks. Panic starting to rush through her, Emma tried to frantically wrangle herself out of the man's arms to start running again.

Noticing her reaction, he tensed with alertness and turned his head to follow her line of vision. "Damn it," he muttered frustratingly under his breath, his accent surprising her, when he spotted the crazy guy with the scarf weaving through the crowd toward them. He moved his hand down from her neck and gripped her upper arm tightly, commanding her attention. "I know you're confused but it's very important that you listen to me, Emma," he pleaded calmly, but there was still a waver of desperation in his voice he couldn't hide. Upon hearing her name, her eyes automatically snapped back up to his. They were wide and earnest, trying to convey something she couldn't quite figure out, "Go straight back to your apartment and wait for me there, don't open the door for anyone else, do you understand?" She glanced down, finally beginning to take him in. The noticeable eyeliner and the earring were already a bit much. But… he was wearing all black leather. And, she noticed with a bit of fear stirring in her stomach, was that a fucking hook as his hand? How had he managed to even get around Boston without someone calling the cops on him? Who the hell was this guy? Besides, what gave him permission to just run around _kissing_ people? A violent shake of her body broke her out of her thoughts. "Do you understand?" he snarled impatiently, resorting to a threatening manner to try to get her to do what he wanted.

"Yes," Emma lied smoothly, now desperate to get out his grip. Everything about him was too intense for her to handle right now. And she could still feel his kiss lingering on her lips. She hated herself for not being angrier about it, especially now that the rage she could see in his eyes was beginning to freak her out.

He stared at her for another beat, the appeasement of her promise visible on his face, before he turned toward the scarf man and started to charge at him in a violent manner.

Like hell she was going back to her apartment.

Adrenaline flying, Emma ran with no destination in mind, just wanting to get as far away from all this madness as she could and take some time to think. Think about all their words and what they meant and who was telling the truth.

Getting stopped on a corner by a stoplight, she bent over with her hands on her knees, taking the break to catch her breath. There was a screech of tires halting and she looked up to see a car pulled over directly in front of her, the window rolled down revealing a young woman with dark hair and mocha skin. "Get in, Emma," she ordered anxiously, and when Emma just continued to stare blankly up at her in confusion, she went on, "Get in, I can help you. I know where your son is," the woman added confidently.

At this point, she knew it wasn't smart to trust anyone, and she wasn't sure what to believe, but if she had a son out there waiting for her, she wanted to find him no matter what. She would have to keep her guard up from now and at least she knew she could fight off a girl easier than a man if it came to it. She took a hesitant step toward the car. "Who are you?" Emma asked, her breathing still labored.

"Tamara," the woman answered, a reassuring smile on her face, "I'm a friend."

For an inexplicable moment, the man's who had kissed her face flew through her mind with the gut feeling that she should turn back now, but she quickly shook it away. One kiss shouldn't be enough to earn her trust. For all she knew, he was planning to slice her throat with that hook.

With thoughts only on a child who was still a blurry image in her head, she got in. "Where are we going?" Emma immediately asked the moment the car started moving toward the highway.

Tamara took a quick glance over at her, a sly smile on her face, "Storybrooke."

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Thanks for reading! Review?


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks for all the reviews and follows! I really appreciate it!

Anything Tamara says is not to be trusted/believed.

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**Chapter Four**

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"Storybrooke?" Emma repeated with some disbelieving skepticism. There was no way that could actually be a name of a town. And it sounded way too much like something that would be related to the ramblings of Neal and crazy scarf man she had overheard, Emma noted with a slight cringe. She wasn't sure what she would do if this woman was also as deluded as they had seemed.

"Storybrooke, Maine," Tamara stated confidently with a sideways glance at her, "Your home… or what was your home."

Hearing Tamara's tired sigh, Emma turned to her with narrowed eyes. "What's that suppose to mean?" she snapped, trying not to feel panicked over a town she hadn't even heard of seconds before.

"No one is there anymore, they've all gone back to the Enchanted Forest," Tamara said with a look that Emma guessed was supposed to be reassuring.

Emma groaned. The Enchanted fucking Forest. She should have known. "Not you too," she grumbled under her breath. They were all crazy. There was _no_ way that place was real. So why did it feel like she was trying to convince herself? Dreams were just that. Dreams. "Stop the car," Emma ordered hostilely, desperately glancing down the highway for the nearest exit. She didn't have time to worry about fairy tale freaks when she had more important things to deal with, "You said you knew where my son was." Henry. Emma constantly repeated the name in her head. She had to find Henry.

Tamara didn't stop the car. "I don't know what you've heard so far, but whatever it was, it's all true, Emma," she confessed, ignoring the way Emma kept shaking her head incredulously at her, "The Enchanted Forest is real. Your son is there."

Ah, of course. Because things could never be simple for her. "And that's why I've been alone for an entire year? Because my family has been in some far off, magical land?" Emma mused sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Yes." Tamara deadpanned, looking so serious that Emma was left speechless, not expecting that answer to the quip she had thrown out. Taking advantage of her hesitancy, Tamara reached into the backseat and pulled out a large, intricate book entitled 'Once Upon a Time'. "Read this," Tamara ordered, plopping the heavy book down in Emma's lap, "it will help."

"And what exactly is…" Emma asked, eyeing the book warily, a faint recognition tugging somewhere in her mind, "this?"

"Every story in that book really happened," Tamara explained, "some of your history is in there as well. It might even help jog a few memories," she added with some encouragement.

Emma looked down at the book again and swallowed nervously. Almost in anticipation as something deep inside her started to hum. She tried to shake it off. She couldn't believe she was getting so worked up over a book. "Who are you exactly?" Emma questioned instead, staring at Tamara in hopes of being able to read her. She didn't trust her. But she was going to take any information she could get, no matter how crazy it sounded. She wouldn't trust anyone until she found her son.

"Tamara. All I want to do is help," Tamara said with what was suppose to be a kind smile. So did Tamara not have a last name? "I'm not from your land, but I do want to get back there."

"Why?" Emma asked sharply, her eyes narrowing.

"Like you, someone I love is there," Tamara stated with some ferocity before staring back determinately at the road. Yes, she did know what it was like to be separated and alone, and she couldn't help but back down slightly and off Tamara's case. After a tense moment, Tamara nodded back down at the book in Emma's lap, "Read. And if you still don't believe, I promise I will take you back."

As much as Emma still didn't trust her, she felt better upon hearing her promise. Options. Options were good. With a deep breath, Emma opened the book and started reading. She found herself getting immersed in the stories. They felt so familiar. She could almost picture what the real faces of the people pictured looked like. Her gut, her heart, was telling her that it was all true. That the Enchanted Forest was where she belonged. She was annoyed at herself for desperately wanting to believe it, that the hope flaming inside her chest ignited stronger than ever. And then it came to the story of Snow White and Prince Charming. It ended just as they were discussing to go see Rumplestiltskin, to protect their unborn child, _Emma_. She didn't know why she was suddenly blinking back tears. "So my parents are Snow White and Prince Charming?" Emma finally spoke up after a few hours of reading, trying to keep any emotion out of her voice, "What part about that is suppose to be believable?" she quipped scathingly. Nothing about her was pure or charming.

"We've still got a little ways to go, ask my anything," Tamara offered with a small smile, "I'll try my best to answer."

The questions Emma now had would take weeks to answer. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose with a sigh. "So who were all those people back there in Boston?" Emma asked tiredly.

"What people?" Tamara asked with furrowed brows. Maybe just a little too innocently.

"Neal," Emma stated awkwardly, the name still feeling foreign on her tongue. "He found me first. Is he really-"

"Yes," Tamara interjected, answering her unspoken question of their relationship, "he wouldn't hurt you," she added reassuringly, "but he does want to keep you in this world. He's also Baelfire, the son of the Dark One," Tamara pointed at the book and Emma had to squelch the urge to go back and reread his story at that very moment, "He hates magic and wants you and Henry here with him. But your family, the one you finally saved after 28 years is in the Enchanted Forest," Tamara's obvious softer tone was beginning to make Emma feel uncomfortable, "and you don't want to be separated from them again, don't you?"

Emma stared at her for a beat too long, sensing her manipulation, but not wanting to jump to conclusions too quickly. "No," Emma replied quickly, but a part of her knew Tamara was right. She wouldn't want to be separated from her family again. With an amused, exasperated face, Emma continued, "The other crazy one with the scarf said he was working for Neal's father."

Tamara nodded, wryly saying, "Rumplestiltskin would do anything to get his son back."

Crazy in-laws. Check. "And then the man with the hook…" Emma hesitantly began, trying to ignore the blush that was threatening to creep up on her cheeks. It was a topic she had avoided trying to think about, denying that she was afraid to be disappointed by the answer.

"Captain Hook?" Tamara reiterated with a slight smirk, "He's a pirate."

Like that answered any of her questions about him. The most she knew about pirates came from movies. And what little she knew about Captain Hook came from the cartoon Peter Pan she had seen on TV once. And he definitely looked _nothing_ like that cartoon. "Can I trust him?" Emma asked in a voice smaller than she liked.

Tamara looked over and studied her for a long moment. "No," she suddenly stated flatly, an air of viciousness buzzing around her, "He's the last person you want to trust."

She tried not to feel disappointed. She really did. But then Tamara's answer began to stir a flare of anger in her and she wanted nothing more than to somehow refute her answer. "He kissed me," Emma argued defiantly.

"Like I said, he's a pirate," Tamara shot back, her tone matching Emma's, "He probably just wanted to get your guard down before he, you know…"

From the look on Tamara's face, Emma knew she was implying that Hook wanted to kill her. Sure, his demeanor there for a second had been scary, but she hadn't felt scared for _herself_. Tamara did have a point, though… He must have been just trying to get her guard down. But something about him did seem familiar… Ugh, she didn't know what to believe. And now her head was starting to pound painfully. "Why are all these people suddenly just popping up? How did _you_ find me?" Emma sputtered on frustratingly, trying to get her mind off the pirate.

"I don't know why the others are just now getting here, I've been here," Tamara answered with a stiff shrug, "but I keep an eye on Storybrooke, waiting for a chance to find a portal to go through. I spotted Hook's ship sailing down the coast and followed him."

Emma momentarily had a flash of a looming sails and a deck bordered with yellow and red but she quickly shook it off. It was probably just her imagination mixed with whatever she had seen in that cartoon. "And they all are after me for their own agendas?" Emma asked half-heartedly with some skepticism. She had no memories. No one she could really trust. Did it really matter at this point who got her back to the Enchanted Forest? A place she now thought of as real, apparently…

"Maybe not Neal, but the others, yes," Tamara said.

Maybe she should just wait for Neal to find her again. "How did you get involved in all this?" Emma asked, studying Tamara once more. There was just something about the woman that was off to her. She just couldn't figure out what.

"When we met, I was engaged to Neal," Tamara replied somewhat sheepishly, and then gave Emma a pointed look, "but it's hard to stay in a relationship with someone when it's clear he still has feelings for someone else."

Oh. "Sorry," Emma muttered without even knowing why, turning to look at the night darkened scenery passing by. Tamara just shrugged.

After a short time of them sitting in silence, Emma lost in her thoughts, Tamara let out a groan and started to slow down. "I've had this really bad crick in my neck the past few days. Do you mind driving?"

She stopped the car and got out to switch places before Emma could answer. "No, I guess not," Emma sighed, mostly to herself, and got out to get in the driver's seat.

"This road always gets tricky at night," Tamara said once Emma had started moving, "Let me know if you see any signs."

Emma nodded, decided her silence was a good enough answer. After about thirty more minutes, she squinted her eyes and saw something. "There," Emma pointed a finger at an approaching green sign, "It says we're now entering Storybrooke."

Tamara grinned. "Perfect."

Once they had gotten into the main part of a town, Emma studied the buildings of what was suppose to be her home. Her old home, she guessed. Everything was shut off and abandoned, seemingly untouched for who knows how long. Even the clock tower in the center of town looked broken. It was literally a ghost town. "This isn't creepy at all," Emma mumbled under her breath. This was suppose to be the town where fairy tale characters lived? Stopping the car behind a yellow bug parked on the side of the street, Emma turned to Tamara, letting out a deep, eager breath. "So... what's your plan? Do you have a… portal?" She still couldn't take herself seriously saying that.

"No," Tamara said and Emma banged her head against the steering wheel. Glaring, Tamara continued, "it won't take long for Neal or Hook to figure out where we went. Once they get back here, hopefully we can... negotiate."

Emma raised her head at Tamara's implication that she was sure she didn't mean to really slip in there. "Negotiate?" Emma repeated sternly with a raised eyebrow.

Tamara ignored her and got out of the car. Reluctantly, Emma followed, mentally guarding and bracing herself against whatever Tamara was going to try to pull. She knew something was coming and she could only guess what. Tamara pointed to the door to an apartment. "Welcome home," she smiled, but Emma could tell it didn't reach her eyes.

Emma still followed her into the building and into an apartment that was suppose to be hers. Yes, this was home. She knew it instinctively. Everything about it seemed to resonate something insider her and she never wished more for her memories than she did now.

"I'm going upstairs," the words were out of Emma's mouth before she knew what she was saying. Somehow, she just knew that was where her room was.

"I'll be down here," Tamara answered, eyeing her in such a way that Emma immediately tensed and made her not want to turn her back. It was a long walk up the stairs.

The pictures in the room were the first thing that caught her eye. There was one of her and a woman with a pixie haircut who looked her age. A friend? A sister? They looked a lot a like… The next frame was blank, a picture missing from it, and then the third was one of a little boy. And Emma immediately knew he was hers. _Henry_. Her beautiful little boy. Emma grabbed the picture and couldn't stop staring, tears rolling down her face before she even knew she wanted to cry. Everything inside her ached and she wanted to force herself to remember because how could she forget him? Taking the picture with her, she laid down on her bed and continued to study it and will any memory to come back to her…

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_Henry was standing before her with something in his hand. "You may not believe in the curse, or in me, but I believe in you…."_

_The image of him warped and suddenly she was standing down in a cave, a dragon looming above her. This shouldn't be normal, but it felt normal, and she felt determined and then she was suddenly dodging shots of fire and jumping over rocks and when she finally got a clear shot, she bent down and threw a sword directly at its heart…_

_And then she was flying down a portal, something tugging her ankle…_

_An accented voice shook through her core..._

_"I was hoping it'd be you."_

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Emma shot up with a gasp, her heart pounding, more tears streaming down her face. It was a dream. Just a dream. But they seemed so real. Those couldn't be memories… could they?

Running a shaking hand through her head, Emma slowly got up and was heading to the bathroom before a hand closed over her mouth from behind.

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Please review! And I'm sorry if Emma seems a bit out of character. I tried to make her not, but she does have no memories and a lot of her defining traits come from her experiences, in my opinion. But she'll get there soon!


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks for all the reviews and follows! Love you all and glad you are liking the story! And in case any of you were wondering, this story takes place what would probably be late season 3 after all the Neverland stuff. But more on that later ;)

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**Chapter Five**

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Feeling someone grab her from behind, encompassed by a hand over her mouth, Emma tensed and immediately began to struggle. Fucking Tamara. She should have jumped out of that car when she had the chance. She was better off on her own. "Shh, don't scream," a deep, resonating voice requested, whispering lowly in her ear. A voice that was definitely male. Okay, so not Tamara, but someone who had broken into her room without her noticing, which was probably worse. She was quickly spun around and came face to face with one of the men from earlier. The one who had kissed her. The pirate. _Hook_. Her heart started thundering in her chest and she still wasn't sure if him being here was a good thing or a bad thing, but she wasn't about to take any chances. It had already been a hell of a day. Hook's eyes darted over her before asking, "Are you alright?"

Emma darted as far away from him as possible, her back hitting the wall within a few steps. "How did you get in here?" she asked, her voice harsh and demanding in attempt to not show any fear.

His brows slightly furrowed, a brief flash of concern passed through his eyes as he attempted to take a step forward, "Emma-"

Eyes scanning the area around her for any thing that could be used as a weapon, Emma tried to back further into the wall, not that it was possible. "Please just leave me alone," she pleaded, a waver now making its way into her voice. She was still shaking from her dream and now that she had slept, everything about the day seemed to hit her with a huge, crumbling weight. "Whatever it is you want-"

Hook's eyes narrowed, suddenly looking just as dangerous as he had when she had seem him charge the crazy guy on the street. "What did Tamara tell you?" he demanded through gritted teeth.

"Enough," Emma snapped, surprised to find that like before and despite what Tamara had told her, she still wasn't scared of him, just desperate to get out of the overwhelming situation in general. And damn it, she was sick of all the surprises she had already gotten that day. Hook moved even closer to her and she began to panic, quickly ordering, "Stop."

"No, you have to listen-" Hook started to say calmly, reaching out to grab her arm. The moment he made contact, Emma did her best with the space she had to pull back her arm and punch him in the face. He staggered a little, but still maintained his hold, growling angrily, "Bloody hell, Emma, just-"

"Let go of me," Emma hissed, trying to shove against him.

He immediately let go, looking a little shocked. "I would never-" he began before Emma swung under his arm and headed straight for the door. She had to get the hell out of this apartment, or just even Storybrooke in general. It was a ghost town. Nothing was here. She would find Henry on her own. She was good at finding things and she was good at being alone. She didn't need suspicious people who picked her up in speeding cars and seemed to know way too much about her life or a pirate whose kiss was still branded on her lips. "Emma, _please_."

She was inches away from the door, but something in his voice made her stop. Emma slowly turned, swallowing hard and whispering, "What do you want from me?"

His blue eyes were wide, unblinking, and desperate, the tone of his voice taking on a broken quality she didn't quite understand, "I'm not going to hurt you. I'll stay right here," Hook held out his arms in surrender, standing firmly by the window, "on the other side of the room, just hear me out, love," he pleaded.

"I'm tired of hearing people out," Emma cried, her breathing becoming heavy, "everyone tells me something different and I-" she reached up, her eyes scrunching as she grabbed her head. An acute pain started to shoot through her temple. "I need to get out of here," she gasped, moving to turn toward the door again.

"Emma, look at me," Hook commanded breathlessly, his voice stirring her memory, which only caused the pain in her head to pound more profusely.

"I don't know what to believe," she answered shakily and no, damn it, she would not cry. Not in front of him.

Hook seemed to be in some kind of internal debate before he quickly blurted out, "Your parents sent me," he paused until she finally looked hesitantly across at him, "I'm here to get you back to them. I won't try to convince you of anything. I won't tell you anything you don't want to know," he bargained carefully, "just let me get you home. Henry will be there," he added with a hint of anxiety, "and your parents, they can help get your memories back."

"How?" Emma asked in a flat voice, trying not to get her hopes up. Her memories. If only…

"There's magic there. There has to be a way," Hook stated fervently. Emma was a bit staggered by his ferocity, but seeing her face, he quickly shut his eyes from a moment, getting a hold of himself. "Look at me, Emma," Hook repeated, his eyebrows raised, "am I lying?"

Searching his open and honest expression for a moment, Emma could see he was telling the truth. She could _feel_ it. But then again, how would she ever know for sure? "Tamara, she-"

"Tamara's lying," Hook interjected acidly, his eyes flashing dangerously, "She's the one that brought you here against your will in the first place."

Her memory of flying down into a whirlpool flashed before her eyes. The brief flash of a mocha skin… "What?" Emma muttered to herself, her head swimming.

"Do you remember something?" Hook asked, his face suddenly black and impassive, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"No," she stammered out quickly, shaking her head. By the look on his face, though, she could see he didn't quite buy it. "What does Tamara want?" Emma asked hurriedly, wanting to get off the subject.

"A bean," Hook answered with a tired sigh, waving his hand in the air, "There is one hidden here in Storybrooke, in case someone accidently ended up stranded here."

Like her. Too bad she hadn't remembered. And then she remembered reading about people using beans in the book, how they were portals. "Why only one?" Emma challenged knowledgably.

"Only three grow at a time. It's a long story, one I suggest we save for the road," Hook told her, a teasing smirk on his face. When she still looked up at him hesitantly, unsure if going with him would be the right thing to do, he looked her more seriously and steadfastly, "You can trust me, Emma."

Could she? Surely her parents wouldn't have sent him if they didn't trust. If anything, she could trust him to get her to the Enchanted Forest at least. "Why would you help me?" she croaked, her voice at a whisper.

Hook studied her for a long moment before his eyes flitted down to the ground, his jaw clenched, "I made a promise to someone that I intend to keep."

His eyes snapped back up to her, but she was focused on his arm, trying to ignore the small pang of jealousy that had bubbled in her stomach when he mentioned 'someone'. Because she shouldn't care. Not at all. She didn't. "Where's your hook?" Emma asked.

His eyes moved down to his left arm, shrugging a little sheepishly. "Earlier, I saw you looking at it. I didn't want to scare you," his mouth tipped up at the corners but annoyance soon washed over his face, "but our dear friend Tamara apparently took care of that. I still have it," he added and motioned to his coat pocket.

"You can wear it, if you want," Emma mumbled, suddenly feeling embarrassed. That was suppose to be his hand after all, right? Without a word, he pulled it out and clicked it back on.

"Can I?" Hook murmured, his arms moving in a forward motion, silently asking for permission to move from his spot rooted by the window.

"Yeah," Emma replied indifferently, closing her eyes with an apologetic gesture. She was slightly impressed he had still stayed over there the entire time without saying anything. He strode over to her and she hated that she suddenly got a little breathless, "So you have a way to get there?"

"Yes-" Hook began a noise coming from downstairs interrupted. He immediately tensed with alertness, grabbing Emma's arm in the process. She looked at the door with wide eyes, anticipating Tamara entering the room. After a moment, though, nothing happened. "Let's get out of here," Hook ordered, pushing her toward the window. When they passed her bed, he suddenly stopped and picked up the picture of Henry that she had been sleeping with. "Do you want to take this?" he asked quietly, holding the picture out toward her.

Without saying anything, Emma grabbed it from him and quickly removed the picture from the frame so she could stick it in her pocket, trying not to get annoyed at the way he was watching her. "Okay," she sighed, "let's go."

With one last look at her room, she followed him out the window and down the fire escape to the street below. Nodding his head to the left, he motioned for her to follow him.

They both froze at the click of a gun. "Well what do we have here?" Tamara questioned with feigned amusement.

Her and Hook turned simultaneously to see Tamara standing there with a gun pointed straight at them. She tried to ignore how Hook suddenly moved so that he was standing in front of her. "Tamara," Hook stated with a fake, charming smile, "lovely to see you again."

"Believe me, the pleasure's all mine," Tamara quipped back, unfazed, "Now where's the bean?"

"Ah, right," Hook answered, his smile becoming more taunting. He pulled a small, black bag off of his belt, holding it up in the air, "This?"

"Hook, what are you doing?" Emma hissed frenetically. If the bean was in there, he couldn't just hand it over it over to her or taunt her with it. That was their way back to the Enchanted Forest. To Henry. She tried moving up beside to reach for the bag, but his arm shot out and pushed her back again.

"Hand it over and save me the trouble of shooting you," Tamara sneered, her voice raising in anger when Hook made no move, putting extra emphasis on her gun, "Hand it over, Hook."

"If you insist," Hook grinned lazily. The second his tossed the pouch, he gripped Emma's arm, almost pulling it out of socket as he harshly commanded, "Run."

She sprinted after him, following him through the abandoned streets of the town until they came to a cannery. He stopped them behind a dumpster, hiding to make sure the coast was clear. The hardly any light, the sun barely peeking over the horizon. "You just handed it over to her!" Emma accused him incredulously, reproachfully poking him in the chest.

"The bean's not in there, darling," Hook countered with a haughty smirk.

"Why are we running from her?" Emma continued on snidely, glancing down at that sword that hung from his belt with a raised eyebrow, "Unless you keep that sword for show."

Hook gave her an unimpressed look. "Because she knows how to kill magical creatures" he hissed sharply, pointing a finger at her, "which includes you."

"So now I'm magical?!" Emma sputtered out incredulously, her frantic eyes wide. Just another day in the life of Emma _Swan_, apparently. He rolled his eyes at her reaction and grabbed her arm in order to keep moving.

They slid along the cannery wall, both of them getting tenser. As they got closer the docks, there were less buildings to hide behind, everything was more open and exposed. Seconds after they passed the cannery, a figure jumped out from the dark and hit Hook over the head with a crowbar, causing him to fall unconscious to the ground.

Emma gasped and charged Tamara without any hesitation. She jumped on her back, trying to tackle her to ground. They both went down, Tamara landing on top of her and Emma flinched when she felt a sharp, stinging on her neck but she ignored it and reached her hands up to claw at Tamara's face, kicking her legs to get her off of her. Tamara yelped when Emma got in a good kick, jumping up to her feet to grab the crowbar that fallen out of Tamara's hands a few feet away. Within two steps, though, dizziness washed over her at a staggering amount and she started to stumble, almost falling to her knees. Emma looked up to see Tamara breathing heavily on the ground next to her, attempting to get up with a syringe in her hand. Emma fell to the ground on all fours.

"No use fighting it, Emma," Tamara told her with a smug smirk that made Emma want to punch her all over again before she got so dizzy that everything went black.

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Emma's eyes fluttered open, the room above her spinning and making her dizzy. The room was dark and smelled terrible. With a groan, she tried to sit up but found that she couldn't. She had restraints on her legs, arms, and stomach, all with wires attached to them. She could also feel two things taped to her temples. "Perfect," she muttered. She glanced to her right and saw Tamara standing over a machine, flicking some of its switches. Tamara looked over at her, but said nothing. "I don't know where the bean is," Emma snarled through gritted teeth, her fists clenching. She had no memories. Trying to torture any information out of her was pointless.

Still fiddling with the large machine, Tamara just shrugged, answering her with a bored voice, "I know you don't."

"Then what's with the restraints?" Emma snapped weakly, trying to wriggle free. This was beginning to turn more into a bad horror movie every second. And what had happened to Hook?

Tamara turned toward her, coming to stand directly over her. "This torture isn't for you," she said with some condensation before looking up and across at something with a smirk on her face.

Then who was it fucking for? Emma's blood started to boil. "Why do you really want to go to the Enchanted Forest?" she asked, now knowing Tamara's previous answer was a lie.

"Magic is unholy," Tamara stated sternly, her right hand on one of the machine's knobs, her left holding something black and shiny, "and I will never stop trying to destroy it."

Without any pause, Tamara twisted the knob and Emma was suddenly overcome in pain.

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Please review! And thank you so much for reading :)


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks for all the reviews and follows! :) Enjoy!

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**Chapter Six**

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"Bitch," Emma muttered breathlessly when Tamara finally subsided the electric currents that sent pain radiating and coursing through her body like knives. Her muscles were clenched and there was a sharp coiling in her stomach, but she was proud of herself, nonetheless, for only crying out once or twice from the pain.

Shaking her head, Tamara let out a short 'tsk'. "And here I thought we were actually becoming friends back there," she said, a mocking frown on her face.

Unable to do anything else, Emma just groaned and rolled her eyes as she sarcastically murmured, "Please."

Tamara looked across at something again, and much to Emma's disgust, suddenly started laughing. What the hell? With a conspiratorial smirk on her face, Tamara's focused her attention back on the machine. "You're a tough girl," Tamara questioned, still looking bemused, "right, Emma?"

Emma didn't have a chance to shoot back an insult before Tamara turned one of the knobs even further than before, catching Emma off guard and causing to her wail involuntarily. Sizzling, hot fire exploded throughout her body and without a doubt, it was the worst pain she had ever felt. She lost track of time, unable to think of or process anything besides what was happening. Emma barely registered it when Tamara turned the machine off. Her entire body shook, but felt paralyzed at the same time, and she could tell she was about to lose consciousness.

There was a loud banging coming from somewhere outside the room and Tamara's alarmed eyes darted toward the door. Emma was almost too exhausted too care anymore; passing out and falling into oblivion and forgetting everything about this day and the fairytale crap that came with it was sounding more appealing each second. She closed her eyes just as she heard the clicking of Tamara's gun, quickly followed by the slam of a door.

Now that she was alone, Emma weakly tried to wiggle out of her restraints, but it was no use. Her skin was glistening with sweat and sleep was slowing pulling her….

There was a forceful shake of her shoulder. "Emma."

Swallowing hard, Emma managed to crack one eye open, only to see Neal's anxious face hovering above her. "Neal?" she croaked, confused to how he had even gotten there.

With a sigh of relief, Neal began to hurriedly remove the wires and restraints holding her down. "You're okay," he said reassuringly as he helped her sit up, putting her arm around his shoulder so that he could help her stand, "I got you."

"I can't believe you were engaged to her," Emma grumbled, willing herself to think about anything other than the way her body wanted to collapse, her eyes hooded as they stumbled out the door and into the hallway of… a cannery? The smell of sardines hit her hard, churning her stomach even more.

Neal let out a short chuckle and hoisted her up against his shoulder a bit more. "Neither can I." He stopped walking once they got to a row of big, smoky machines and then cursed under his breath. "Where the hell did he go now?" Neal grunted. Emma furrowed her brows and tried to look around, was he talking about Hook? Even amidst all the torture, she had been wondering what Tamara had done to him. There were some sounds of scuffling somewhere to their left and Neal hurriedly pulled her in that direction while trying to keep her upright.

"Hook, stop," Neal ordered irately, startling Emma and causing her eyes to pop open fully. While her vision was still having trouble focusing, she could blurrily see that a deranged looking Hook had an unconscious Tamara pinned to the ground, clearly on the verge of killing her.

When he didn't listen to Neal, Emma hoarsely whispered, "Hook." She was sure why she felt obligated to stop him or that he would even listen to her, but his name was out of her mouth before she could stop it.

Hook paused momentarily before he violently shoved away from Tamara and stood up fully. "Emma," he growled, a wild look still in his eyes as he pointed down at Tamara, "if you remembered all this woman –"

"Well she doesn't," Neal interjected irritably, cutting him off, "so you can spare her the gory details until she gets her memories back."

"Like you did?" Hook mockingly quipped, glaring hostilely at Neal, "You apparently jumped at the chance to load information on her. We agreed-"

"Whatever agreement we had went out the window when you left me in Storybrooke the second we got here and then hightailed it down the coast in your ship to look for her on your own," Neal argued, accusation and annoyance rising in his voice. If Emma's head wasn't spinning before, it certainly was now. They knew each other? And had come here together? She tried to find a way to connect all the dots in her head. She guessed it made sense. Hook had said her parents had sent him and Neal was the father of her child…

"I told you I would dock for _one hour_ and then be off," Hook indignantly sneered, "it's your own bloody fault for meandering around town in search of information that wasn't even here to begin with."

Well, even if they did know each other, their relationship seemed rocky at best. She wondered why… Looking smug, Neal snapped, "I found her first, didn't I?"

"Would you like a round of applause?" Hook shot back, the bitterness clear in his voice.

"For the love of God," Emma groaned, their bickering causing her head to pound even more, "both of you, _shut up_."

At least they both had the decency to look a little ashamed. Or maybe she was just hoping they did. After a stretching moment of silence, Neal sighed, "Okay, if anyone is taking care of Tamara, it's me."

"Is that so?" Hook commented in a bored voice, rolling his eyes as his arm moved to rest on his belt.

"We're not killing her," Neal told him sternly, "Some of us actually have morals, but you wouldn't know anything about that, would you, _pirate_?"

"Listen here, _boy_-"

"Enough," Emma hissed, getting tired of all their shit. She didn't have the energy to try to work out whatever was going on between them. The room started to shake and she found herself clutching her head.

"Have it your way, Baelfire," Hook conceded with a hint of annoyance as he walked over to them and moved to grab her Emma's arm, "but if that's your choice, you can stay here while I take Emma back to the Enchanted Forest ."

"Don't I get a say in this?" Emma asked weakly, her pride flaring up, hating being told what to do. She let go of Neal and attempted to stand on her own, but her knees buckled and she fell forward in to Hook.

"Not when you can barely stand," Hook muttered tiredly to her, crouching slightly so his arm could wrap underneath her knees, picking her up and cradling her against his chest. Emma immediately relaxed into him. Okay, so this wasn't so bad.

"Whatever," Neal grumbled, throwing his hands up in defeat, glancing at Hook darkly, "Emma, I'll meet back up with you and Henry in a few days."

"Wait," Emma said, thinking of Henry. This was suppose to be his dad, she couldn't just let Hook leave him here. Besides, if her parents had sent him with Hook, did that mean they didn't think she would be okay alone with the pirate? Instinctively gripped the lapels of Hook's leather coat to steady herself, she asked, "How are you getting there?"

"I'll use the bean that's hidden here," Neal told her with some reassurance. He jerked his head toward the exit, "Just get out of here."

"Always a pleasure, lad," Hook stated dryly, turning to walk them out of the cannery.

"You two know each other?" Emma mumbled against his chest, the swaying of his footsteps quickly putting her to sleep. Her entire body was exhausted and needed to recover from whatever Tamara had done to her.

"I thought you didn't want to know anything," Hook replied sharply, his mood dark. His tone normally would have angered her but she wasn't in the mood to deal with whatever drama she had apparently been thrust into anymore tonight. Part of her still believed she would wake up in her bed in Boston tomorrow morning to find that everything had been a crazy dream.

When she didn't reply, she heard him sigh and then felt something rustling in her hair. "How are you feeling?" Hook asked quietly. She started to say 'fine', but the words ended up coming out in a tired, incoherent jumble. "Reassuring answer, darling," he chuckled, but there was still an edge of concern in his voice.

Something tugging at her feet woke her up. She didn't even remember when exactly she had fallen asleep. She noticed she was lying on a bed and looked down and saw Hook removing her boots. "Where are we?" she asked sleepily, reaching a hand up to rub at her eyes.

"My ship," Hook answered, a little pride entering his voice before he gently pulled a cover up over her. "It might get bumpy, love," he told her with a wink, "Just a fair warning." Hazily, she saw him start to walk out of the room before she was claimed by sleep once more.

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_She was following Neal down a crowded sidewalk, almost having to run to catch up with him. "C'mon," he said to her, "should be one more block west."_

_"Once we get the car, what do we do about Hook?" she asked, the thought of the pirate stressing her even more than she already was._

_"I don't know," Neal said dismissively, "he made his way to New York, I'm sure he can make his way out of a basement," he turned to her, a bit of accusation and annoyance in his voice, "Do you have a problem leaving him behind?"_

_She shrugged, pushing down whatever concern she might have been feeling. "Actually, I've done it before."_

_"Great," Neal replied shortly, effectively ending the conversation._

_"I have to admit, after some of the things you've said," she continued, glancing briefly at Neal, "I'm surprised you'd rally to his side like this."_

_"There's a difference between running away from your father and watching him die in front of you. He may be a monster, but he's my blood…."_

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Emma couldn't remember ever feeling this comfortable. Snuggling deeper into the bed, she sighed contently. Wherever she was, it felt like home. She froze and realized she didn't want to open her eyes and see the inside of her flat.

Slowly peeking an eye open, the room she was in was unfamiliar. She let out a deep breath. It hadn't been a dream. Why was she so relieved? She had been chased after, kidnapped, and tortured in less than 24 hours. That wasn't a life people generally tend to want to hold on to, but it was all she had. And soon, she hoped, she would have Henry.

Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Emma sat up and looked around the room. The linings of the wall were wooden and intricate, it was clean and organized, there was elaborate looking armoire next to a desk, and she was lying on the only bed in the room. Was she in the captain's cabin? She didn't know why she suddenly felt flustered that Hook had brought her to his room where she had slept in his bed. She glanced to her left and saw the other side of the bed untouched. Running her fingers through her hair, her mind went back to her dream. It had to be a memory, she knew that now. It had felt too real and familiar not to be. And it had been her first dream that hadn't had anything to do with mythical creatures and lands. It frustrated her that she couldn't remember the context of her conversation with Neal, especially since _she_ had brought up the person whose ship she was now on. So they had met before. But they had been leaving him behind? And why hadn't it seemed like it wasn't the best of circumstances?

With an annoyed huff, she decided to let it go. Nothing would make sense until she got her memories back, _if_ she ever got them back, that is. And after everything that had happened with Tamara, she wanted to keep to herself until she was with Henry and her parents.

Looking around the room curiously, she bit her lip before deciding it wouldn't hurt to just… look around. It _wasn't_ snooping, she just wanted to find out more information about who she was dealing with. To make sure there weren't of any secret documents with plans to kill her lying around…

Emma made her way over to his desk and flipped through the parchments that were lying on top. Most of them were just maps of lands she didn't recognize, but there was a bent up one of Boston among them. Just as she was about to move to the drawers, the corner of something colorful caught her eye. Gently grabbing it, she pulled out a picture that had been buried beneath a stack of papers. Her heart stopped. It was _her_. And Henry. They were posed in front of a birthday cake, Henry in front with a little triangular hat on, her bent down behind him with her arms wrapped around his shoulders. It was surreal to see herself with blonde hair again, but even more so to see the smile that was on her face, because she couldn't imagine herself ever being that _happy_. For the past year, she had only been alone and miserable. Why did she have a feeling that this had been the picture missing from her room? And _why_ did Hook have it? It wasn't like he had been looking at it, right? It had been buried beneath -

She whipped around in a panic when she heard someone coming through the door, hurriedly stuffing the picture back to the bottom of the pile. Hook looked somewhat caught off guard to find her awake and going through his things, but he quickly recovered. "I was just making sure everything was still okay down here," Hook said with a small flourish of his hand, leaning against the doorframe.

_Yeah, I was just going through your things._ "Yeah, I just woke up," Emma stammered, her voice a little too high. Hook smirked and raised his eyebrow at her, calling her bluff. "I was just looking…" Emma trailed off with some embarrassment, not exactly knowing what to say and hoping he wasn't too mad and decided to make her walk the plank. Pirates did that, right?

"It's fine," Hook said, shrugging indifferently, his mouth tipping up at the corners.

Just that alone made her heart beat a little faster than it already was. Wow, he really was attractive, and this was the first time she had really gotten to get a good look at him under a somewhat normal setting, not him harassing her on the street, her on the edge of a breakdown, or her dizzy from torture. Oh God, she was staring. She shook her head, wanting to slap herself. It's not like she hadn't been around good looking men before. Well, ones that didn't grab her and kiss her randomly anyway. She involuntarily flushed. _Get a grip, Emma_. Clearing her throat awkwardly, she asked, "Are we in Enchanted Forest?"

He nodded. "I'll sail as close as we can get to the castle but it'll still be a few days journey on foot after that," Hook informed her, his eyes studying her curiously.

Castle? This was certainly going to be interesting. "Okay," Emma replied lamely, the question of the picture on the tip of her tongue, but she stopped herself. She had told herself she didn't want to know anything else about the life she couldn't remember until she was safe with her parents, but the picture had thrown her for a loop. She wasn't entirely sure if she trusted Hook enough yet to believe what he would tell her anyway. She was at a complete disadvantage to anyone she might meet in the world and she couldn't risk repeating a Tamara incident.

When it was clear she wasn't going to say anything else, Hook straightened up and scratched the back of his neck. "Well I'll be above deck if you need anything," he offered with a polite bow of his head before leaving the room, shutting the door behind him.

Emma let out a short breath she didn't know she had been holding. Hesitantly pulling the picture out again, she studied it for a minute longer before stuffing it in her coat pocket where the one of just Henry was already kept.

Bracing herself and pushing down any emotion that might threaten to show, Emma walked out of the cabin and up the short stairs to the main deck. Her eyes immediately widened at the sight before her. It was unlike any view she had ever seen. She strode over to the railing, ignoring how she could feel Hook's eyes on her from where he was standing up by the helm, and drank in the Enchanted Forest. They were sailing fairly close to the shoreline, the hills of green visible, the outlines of mountains framing the horizon. It looked like something out of a movie or… well, a fairytale. "Wow," Emma breathed, somewhat awestruck.

"Not quite what you're used to, I take it," Hook said bemusedly, suddenly standing beside her, causing her to jump slightly.

Emma shook her head, glancing briefly at him out of the corner of her eye. "Definitely not," she muttered, leaning down to rest her elbows on the railing.

They both stood there in silence for a long moment before Hook crossed his arms and leaned against the side of ship, turning slightly toward her. "So what do you remember?" he implored. Emma raised her eyebrows at him, feigning ignorance. "You're somewhat of an open book, lass," Hook announced to her, a smirk on his face. "You were lying when you said you didn't," he chided lightly.

Feeling a little uncomfortable that he was somehow able to see right through her, she objected, "I really don't though." Because she didn't. All she had were flashes and blurry images. Those didn't count for anything, not when she couldn't decipher them. When Hook raised an eyebrow at her, continuing to stare at her expectantly, she begrudgingly admitted, "I've had this one memory ever since I woke up after surgery."

"Surgery?" Hook repeated, sounding out the name like it was foreign to him.

"Yeah, I had a really bad head injury and it caused a lot of hemorrhaging in my brain," Emma said, trying to explain to what had happened to her and failing. When he still looked confused, she sighed and lifted the front of her hair to show him the scar that followed her hairline at her temple, "They open up your skull and fix it." With that, alarm flashed through his eyes as he grabbed her head and held it in place so that he could get a better look. Emma flatly stated, "I'm guessing that's not something they do in the Enchanted Forest."

"I've been in a hospital before, but they didn't do that," Hook replied, his voice almost as at a growl as he finally pulled away from her, moving back to his former position, "it sounds barbaric."

"They knock you out so it's not like you feel it," Emma said with a shrug. Surgery was something that was normal to her, it was weird to see somebody so appalled to it. "Anyway," she began with a sigh, getting back to the subject on hand, "I always thought it was a dream."

"What was it?" Hook asked, his attention focused on her.

Emma swallowed down a dry lump in her throat before answering, suddenly nervous at saying something she had never been able to say out loud before. "Me lying on the ground with people arguing above me and then somebody helps me up," she told him, the hazy memory so rushed and blurry that even remembering it makes her head spin, "and I remember seeing this castle… but then I'm being pulled into this whirlpool, which I guess I now know was a portal," Emma added, glad that some piece of the puzzle was finally sliding into place.

"You don't remember who the people were?" Hook asked, his voice careful. Emma looked over at him and saw that he was decidedly keeping his face blank, but she couldn't help but feel a hint of anticipation coming from him.

"No," Emma told him honestly and she could have sworn she saw a brief flash of disappointed go through his eyes before he turned to face the water, "and then I had this dream back in Storybrooke," she continued, deciding to leave out the dream she had just had since it had partly had to do with him, "Henry was talking to me and then I was fighting a dragon," Emma said, her voice turning disbelieving and skeptical.

"That happened," Hook said, a grin flitting over his face. When she sent him a questioning look, he shrugged, nonchalantly saying, "I've heard the story once," he then glanced over at her briefly, tiredly muttering under his breath, "…or twice."

Part of her wanted to dwell on how he knew it, but she couldn't stop a small, indignant, tight-lipped smile from forming her face. "Why do I feel like you're making fun of me?" she wryly quipped.

The smile on Hook's face said he was doing exactly that. With a mischievous glint in his eyes, he lowered his voice, suggestively countering, "You're free to feel anything you'd like, love."

Emma rolled her eyes, but something about it unsettled her. The banter, the innuendo… she didn't know why but it just felt familiar. She couldn't stop herself from reaching in her pocket. "Here's the thing," Emma began cautiously, trying to gauge his reaction as she held up the picture to him, "I found this on your desk."

Hook froze and stared down at the picture. She saw his throat bobble a little before he looked back up at her, a smirk plastered on his face. "Is this your way of asking whether I prefer blondes or brunettes?" he inquired, his eyes flitting between brunette her and blonde her.

Emma blinked, thrown by his comment and impassivity. "This isn't about my hair," she spat out frustratingly, annoyed that he was trying to blow her off.

"Then what is your point, darling?" Hook asked in a bored tone, but his stance was way too tense.

"Why do you have it?" Emma demanded through gritted teeth.

He stared at her intently, jaw clenched, before he finally shrugged, "I had to make sure I grabbed the right princess, now, didn't I?"

"Oh," Emma mumbled, looking down at the picture and feeling embarrassed that she hadn't thought of that, that she had automatically begin to assume that maybe… she didn't know what she thought exactly. And she hated that a little part of her was disappointed that he hadn't told her anything, because she _didn't_ want to, not yet anyway, not when she still felt vulnerable from all the information that had been thrust on her already, and was still being thrust on her in her dreams, confusing her even more, scaring her even more.

She jumped when Hook grabbed her arm. "Back in Storybrooke, you were on the brink of a breakdown," he voiced, his eyes intense and unwavering. Her pride told her to object, but she knew he was right, she would have ran straight back to Boston and tried to write all of this off as a dream if he hadn't stopped her, "I said I wouldn't try to tell you anything, and I will keep that promise, unless you trust me enough now to believe whatever I say. I'm not going to risk you trying to run away from me." Hook held out his arms, an open, honest, determined expression his face, "Do you trust me?"

Emma swallowed hard, her heart pounding as she searched his face, and she was suddenly scared. Not of him, but of how overwhelmed she seemed to get around him, and she still hadn't decided if it was a good thing or a bad thing. She had been feeling completely helpless ever since all these random people had come back into her life, using what she didn't know against her and expecting things from her. He was the only one who was giving her a choice on whether she let him do that to her or not, because no matter what, that's exactly what it would feel like to her, just like it had been with the others. She didn't trust him. And she had a feeling he already knew that. "No," she whispered.

He didn't look surprised, if anything, he just looked tired. "Very well, princess," Hook drawled, mockingly bowing with a smile plastered on his face that didn't reach his eyes. She inwardly cringed at the word princess. He possessively eyed the picture in her hand for a moment before he suddenly snatched it away from her. "I'll be taking that, then," he said quickly and placed it in the inner pocket of his coat.

"Hey!" Emma protested, trying to grab it back, but he dodged her and started walking toward the helm.

"You should learn to keep out of other people's things, lass," Hook yelled back at her, not bothering to turn around, leaving Emma on the deck with nothing but her hollow thoughts.

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Thanks for reading and please review!


	7. Chapter 7

Hello everyone :) I know it has been awhile and I apologize. I just got so caught up with school and work, and then my muse left me and I got really insecure about my writing, but now I'm back and I hope you like the new chapter! More to come!

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**Chapter Seven**

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"Did I miss the part where we would be backpacking through the Amazon?" Emma asked dryly, skeptically eying the large, full brown bag Hook was shoving into her hands. The ship had finally docked and while she was more than eager to get going, they had spent a good hour arguing over what to bring and what weapons she would get to have. She won, in the end. Not that there was ever any question that she would.

Hook gave her a blank stare. "The what?" he intoned, eyebrow raised as he slung his own satchel over his shoulder.

Oh, right. Different world. She didn't know how she was ever going to get used to that. But she guessed she had before. "Nevermind," Emma muttered, heaving the pack slightly to get a better grip on it. Admittedly, she didn't know what to expect from the Enchanted Forest, but she still thought he was being a tad overbearing with all these supplies. She might not remember being here, but she wasn't incompetent. Surviving was second-nature to her.

"Right," Hook stated flatly, his face forming into an unreadable mask as he gave a quiet sigh and turned to lead them above deck. He had been acting like that since their conversation that morning. Not cold, but just reserved, like he was afraid to relax around her. She quickly tried to brush away her musings of him that had been becoming more frequent and followed him. She shouldn't be trying to figure him out or let his behavior bother her. She had more important things to focus on, like getting home, finding Henry, and somehow getting her memories back. She could worry about whatever relationship they may or may not have had when she finally got her life back. Because she knew he had been lying about why he had that picture. After setting down the gang plank, Hook stepped aside and swept his arm out toward it. "Ladies first," he said, a slight smirk forming on his face.

Rolling her eyes, Emma wryly countered, "Oh, so now you're going to be a gentlemen?"

As she began to walk past him, she saw him tense and an odd look passed over his face, but it was gone so quickly she thought she might have imagined it. "I'm always gentlemen," Hook replied from behind her, his voice strangely subdued. When she got to the end of the dock, she stopped at the site before her. There were only two or three buildings before, all makeshift and looking close to falling apart. "Not what you expected?" Hook inquired, though it sounded more like a statement than a question, moving to stand beside her.

"I just expected more of a… town, I guess," Emma replied lamely, the realization that she really _did_ have no clue what she was doing here making her uneasy. Not that she would ever admit it.

"The queen's curse nearly destroyed all the land," Hook told her, pointing her toward the forest. She wondered when he would finally run out of patience with her at having to retell all these stories. She was surprised he hadn't already. "It's only been a year since everyone returned," he glanced back at the buildings, a sympathetic note lacing his voice, "Most people are still trying to rebuild."

Once again, the curse. Henry's book had ended so abruptly, the final pages torn out, that she hadn't really grasped what all the curse had done. She could have asked Hook more about it, but her pride didn't allow her to, not wanting to see even more weak or incompetent in front of him. They walked a couple more hours through the forest, hacking their way through in a surprisingly comfortable silence, leaving Emma to her thoughts about the curse and life in the Enchanted Forest. She would often feel Hook's eyes on her, but every time she looked his way, he would abruptly turn away and act like he hadn't just been staring at her. In her peripheral vision, she suddenly saw him come to an abrupt halt. Furrowing her brows in confusion, Emma turned toward him, his posture rigid and his head turned slightly, listening.

"What is it?" Emma asked after a long moment of silence, staring at him expectantly.

His stance relaxed somewhat, but he still kept his eyes still warily searched the expanse of the forest surrounding them. "I heard rustling," Hook answered, his voice soft and trailing, preoccupied.

Emma let out an exasperated sigh, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "We're in the middle of the Enchanted _Forest_," she said incredulously, pointing out the obvious, "It's probably Bambi."

"I don't know what the bloody hell a bambi is, but trust me when I say there are a number of things in this forest we should avoid encountering," Hook snapped indignantly. She could tell he was trying to hide his frustration, whether at her or the noise he had heard, she didn't know. His eyes flitted up to the darkening sky for a moment before landing back on her, "It'll be dark soon anyway, we should set up camp."

"No," Emma protested stubbornly. The desire to see Henry and her growing frustration at not having her memories were eating her from the inside out. Besides, it wasn't going to get dark right away, they could still make it a little bit further, "We need to keep moving."

"The castle isn't going anywhere, princess," Hook quipped lightly, his voice turning mocking at the pet name.

Emma could feel anger start to boil and curl in her stomach. She opened her mouth to snap a retort at him when he suddenly stopped again and turned toward his left, his jaw clenching and hand moving to the hilt of his sword. "What now?" Emma snapped acidly.

Hook shot her an annoyed glare. "There's something out there," he whispered through grinded teeth.

"You're being paranoid," Emma said with an exasperated roll of her eyes.

"Quiet," Hook hissed, throwing his hand over her mouth before she could stop him. If looks could kill… But since he really did seem serious and on edge, she stayed frozen, watching and waiting. After a long, tense moment, the rustling got louder and just as Emma was regretting her choice of not listening to him and her heart was leaping up her throat, a serene deer stumbled out of the bushes, sniffed at the feet for a moment, before hopping off into the forest once more.

Emma bit her lip, trying to contain the smugness on her face. She could feel frustration radiating off of Hook in waves now, who was avoiding looking at her, his mouth in a grim, straight line. "Would you look at that?" Emma couldn't help but quip, "Bambi." With a sigh, she stepped forward and indicated that he should follow, "Now can we please-"

Hook suddenly lunged toward her, "Swan-" But he was a second too late. Before she realized what was going on, Emma's feet were being thrown out from under her and her body tangled with Hook's. With a yelp, she began to reflexively try to pull away from him and flair her limbs, but she soon realized her actions were useless when she saw the rope of a net around them and the ground feet below.

"What the hell," Emma snarled, trying to find a better position. She was on her back, her knees bent and practically scrunched up by her shoulders, with Hook on top of her. Yeah, this position was precarious at all. Of course this is how they would end up tangled together.

To his credit, she could tell Hook was doing his best to try to accommodate her. "Bloody fantastic," he eventually growled.

"What did you do?" Emma hotly accused, irrationally wanting to blame him for this.

Hook stared down at her, stunned outrage shining in his eyes. "This is my fault?" he sputtered indignantly.

His face was much to close to hers now. She could feel his breath fanning over her cheeks and almost make out every shade of blue in his eyes. Heart pounding, she tried to look anywhere but him. "Maybe if you hadn't been too busy fretting over the big, bad deer-"

"Fretting?" Hook spat the word like it was the most insulting thing he had ever heard, "I was simply trying to-"

"Shut up," Emma hurriedly gasped, an abrupt, sharp pain in her abdomen dissipating any of her other concerns. She looked down and saw that his hook was dangerously pressed against her stomach, the net pinning his arm in place, preventing him from being able to move it away, unless of course he wanted to stab her.

Hook followed her eyes and if she hadn't already been so close to him, she might have missed the panic that flickered through his. "Don't move," he whispered warningly.

She could feel her anger begin to surface once more at his comment. She had already figured out that much on her own. "That's perfect," she muttered under her breath. Their position and his proximity was making it hard to breath, she somehow had to get out of this. She just wasn't going to sit here and do nothing either, when she had a son and family she had to get to. With determination, she carefully tried to raise her body and reach toward her boot for the knife hidden there.

She felt Hook stiffen at her movements. "What are you doing?" he asked, a tint of nervousness in his voice.

"Don't get too excited," Emma said with a bit of taunting her voice, though by the way his eyes kept flickering toward his hook, she figured that's where the nervousness was coming from, "I'm reaching for my knife."

Understanding what she was trying to do, he studied the net they were trapped in for a moment. "Try cutting behind my feet," he suggested.

Emma tried, but if she reached any further, his hook would definitely impale her. "I can't reach that far," she told him before slipping the knife under her to slowly cut at the ropes.

She had only gotten a few of the ropes severed when the commanding tone in Hook's voice made her freeze. "Stop." Twisting her head to see what he was going on about now, she looked down and saw the most bizarre looking creature she had ever seen, as far as she could remember, circling below them. Just by looking at it, Emma knew it was something she didn't want to mess with. At first glance, one could mistake it for a lion, but there was another head protruding from it's back, and it's tail hissed, almost like a snake… "_That_ is what I heard," Hook announced, a smug smirk on his face, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"What the hell is that?" Emma demanded, eyes wide, suddenly not minding being stuck up here with him.

"That, my dear, is a chimera," Hook told her, his infuriating smirk still in place.

The words were out of her mouth before she knew what she was saying, her eyes glazing over as something pulled from inside her brain. "Like turducken?"

"Like what?" Hook questioned, his eyebrow going up in confusion.

"I don't know where that came from," Emma said quickly, shaking her head and brushing off whatever had just come over her. She glanced down at the beast still stationed below them, "So what, we just wait for it to leave?" Before Hook could answer, though, she heard a faint ripping and felt her butt sink further toward the ground. Panic shooting through her fast, she reached up as best she could and tried to grab tightly on to Hook.

"I'm flattered, darling," Hook said, letting out a slightly confused chuckle, "but this net may prove to be difficult for such activities."

Emma glared up at him. "I'm falling through," she replied through ground teeth.

He studied their surroundings, his eyes calculating and pondering before he nodded his head toward the top of the ropes. "Grab that."

Surprising herself, she did what she was told without any extra thought and lifted her arms above her head and gripped the ropes tightly. "What are you doing?" she asked when he reached under her and began to resume cutting.

"Change of plans," Hook said, a grin flitting over his face, "We're going kill the bloody beast."

"If the landing doesn't kill us first," Emma muttered, studying just how far the ground was from them. At least she would be able to somewhat control her fall, to be able to hold on to the ropes and tumble down the way she wanted while he would fall and be at the mercy of gravity. He ignored her comment, though, and continue to saw through the ropes, so apparently he wasn't that concerned about it.

"Which end would you prefer to take on, love?" He asked just as she felt the ropes starting to give way, "The lion or the snake?"

Both ends lacked appeal, and even though she had one memory of handling a sword, killing a dragon no less, she wasn't sure she could take on a lion so she finally stammered out, "Snake." She could do this, she was Emma Swan, damn it. Memories or not.

Hook gave her a reassuring smile, surprised when for some reason it did reassure her, a new feeling of confidence running through her. "On three," he stated, but before any numbers came out of his mouth, the ropes snapped and they unceremoniously flew toward the ground.

Emma heard him let out a pained groan as she landed on top of him. She quickly rolled off of him, momentarily forgetting the situation they were in, and reached over to apologize and see if he was okay when she heard a menacing growl come from across from them. Mouth glowing with fire, the chimera tensed and looked ready to charge. Glancing at one another, they both darted to their feet and simultaneously unsheated their swords.

Raising her sword, Emma let out a growl and charged toward the snake, swiping furiously at it. It hissed and dodged her strikes, causing her to yell out in frustration. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Hook faring better than she was, his movements with his sword precise and fluent. Feeling jealous at the ease he had dealing with the creature, Emma furiously began to blindly swipe her sword at the snake with vehemence. She heard a yelp and she briefly registered that the sound meant Hook had probably finished the lion part off, but she was so focused on the damn snake that she forgot there was still a third part itching to attack them, the goat. It's eyes zeroed in on her and she could see it start to brace itself, its hind legs tensing to snap up and buck her. Emma braced herself for impact, only it never came. Instead, she felt herself being shoved to the ground and looked up just in time to see the beast kick Hook right in the head. His head snapped to the side and he fell unconscious to the ground.

An anger she didn't know she possessed consumed her and she shot off the ground with a fierce determination. Without thinking, she charged toward the creature and stabbed it right in the gut. It let out a yelping cry and the snake hissed and darted toward her. She quickly twisted her body and didn't miss this time when she made to swipe off its head. When it fell to the ground, chest heaving, she struck her sword in the ground in victory. After catching her breath, she turned toward where Hook was laying and hurriedly knelt down beside him.

"Hook," Emma stated, panic and concern squeezing at her chest upon seeing the red gash running across his forehead. She reached down to brush the hair out of his face, her other hand going to his shoulder to shake him. "Hook," she tried again, her voice higher and shakier than before.

Relief shot through her when he began to stir, a quiet groan escaping his lips. "Emma," he breathed, eyes still closed as a small, confused smile formed on his lips as he reached up and gently grabbed her forearm, his thumb caressing it, "Why are you calling me that?"

Emma furrowed her brows, confused. What else would she call him? "How hard did you hit head?" she asked nervously, inspecting the cut more thoroughly than before and trying to ignore how heart had begun to speed up at his sudden affection.

He opened his eyes slowly and the brightness in them suddenly dimmed as he looked over her confused features, realization dawning in them as they briefly flicked over their surroundings. The way he schooled his features into indifference and tried to hide the emotions storming in his eyes made her chest clench in a way she wasn't sure she wanted to understand. "I've had worse," Hook muttered, attempting to sit up as he reached a hand up toward his head, wincing when he probed at the cut.

"That was stupid," she grumbled, quickly getting to her knees to help him stand.

"You're welcome," he shot back, sending her a glare that didn't have much heat behind it. She expected him to pull away from her once he had gotten to his feet, but he didn't. Instead, she felt the arm around her shoulders tighten briefly when he noticed the dead chimera lying on the ground.

Seeing blood start to run down his face, Emma started to pull him away from the scene. "We should clean that."

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A/N: Hope you liked it! I have all of the dialogue written for the next chapter so hopefully I will have it out soon! Also, after the next chapter, I was thinking of adding one from Hook's POV that flashes back to a day during the year Emma was gone and they were all stuck in the Enchanted Forest if you all are interested in that? Let me know :)

Thanks for reading!


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